A bill being introduced in the Minnesota Legislature would invest $8 million in research on spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries.

Named for Gabe Rodreick and Jack Jablonski — two young Minnesotans who suffered paralyzing injuries in recent years — the bill would make money available to researchers through an award program within the Minnesota Department of Health, said Sen. Jeff Hayden, DFL-Minneapolis, at a Capitol news conference Wednesday, Jan. 23.

More than 10,000 Minnesotans sustain traumatic brain injuries each year, Hayden said, adding that 300 people per year in the state suffer spinal cord injuries.

The bill would make $8 million available through research grants over a two-year period beginning in July. The Health Department commissioner would appoint an eight-person advisory committee to review research proposals for funding.

Rodreick, 20, of Minneapolis, suffered a spinal cord injury while body surfing in Costa Rica in 2008. Jablonski, 17, of St. Louis Park, was a high school sophomore in December 2011 when he was injured during a junior varsity hockey game.

“We believe the research is real, and worthy of the investment of the state,” Gabe’s father, Matthew Rodreick, said at the news conference.

“Our family is honored to have our son’s name on a bill that is crucial to our mission of seeing Jack walk again,” said Leslie Jablonski, Jack’s mom, in a statement.

Not everyone likes the idea.

Rick Cardenas, 70, of St. Paul is a quadriplegic who suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident in 1960. In a statement distributed to reporters before the Wednesday news conference, Cardenas argued that the money would be better spent on — and might even be diverted from — community-based programs such as jobs training, affordable housing and access to transportation for people with disabilities.

“Any money appropriated for this bill will go to a very well-off community of researchers, physicians and universities,” Cardenas said in his statement. “If you Google spinal cord research … you will find hundreds of research programs costing hundreds of millions of dollars all around the United States doing spinal cord research.”

During the news conference, Hayden said he would seek an appropriation from the general fund, adding that it’s not his intention to divert funds from other programs.

“There’s some money that’s out there,” Hayden said.

Dr. Ann Parr, a researcher at the University of Minnesota, said during the news conference that other states have created similar grant programs to fund research. She added that state-level grants could help research programs such as the one she works on at the U compete for larger federal grants down the road.

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